Lawsuit: Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries instructed flight attendants to wear boxers, flip-flops
Abercrombie & Fitch models pose outside the A&F store in Knightsbridge, a shopping mall in Singapore, on December 9, 2011.
There are finicky travelers and then there are Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Michael Jeffries and his companion Matthew Smith.
Flight attendants – who had to be male actors or models – working on the clothing company’s Gulfstream G550 jet had to abide by strict rules, right down to the way the carpet was vacuumed (front to back to ensure “smooth, even lines”) and the seating arrangements for Jeffries’ three dogs, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing legal documents filed in 2010.
The guidelines, which also required staff to wear jeans, boxer shorts, polo shirts and flip-flops, and play “Take Me Home” when passengers are boarding the aircraft for a return flight, are contained in a “47-page “Aircraft Manual” that forms part of the evidence in a lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch, ABC News reported.
Former corporate jet pilot Michael Stephen Bustin is suing Abercrombie & Fitch for age discrimination, the Guardian reported. The 55-year-old claims he was sacked in 2009 because he was considered too old and was replaced by a younger man, according to documents filed in a federal court in Philadelphia.
“Every single aspect that you can imagine that affected the airplane or our behavior in it was controlled by Abercrombie & Fitch, specifically, Michael Jeffries and Matthew Smith,” Bustin said in his disposition.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the flight attendants had to respond to passenger questions with “No problem,” rather than “sure” or “just a minute.”
And they also had to spray their uniforms with Abercrombie & Fitch #41 cologne throughout their shift.
To see the full list of bizarre rules, click on this link.
More from GlobalPost: Gap pulls "racist" t-shirt from sale
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?